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from the works-best-when-sized-to-at-least-14-pt dept.
An Entire Game Inside Of A Font:
Where’s the last place you’d expect to be able to play a game on your computer? The word processing program? Image editor? How about your text editor? That’s right — you can fight your Fontemons in any program that makes use of fonts, because mad genius [Michael Mulet] has created a game that exists entirely within a single Open Type font file. [Michael] has harnessed the power of ligatures to create a choose-your-own-adventure-style turn-based game that pokes fun at both Pokemon and various typeface names. You start by choosing between Papyromaniac, Verdanta, and Proggito and face off against enemies like Helvetikhan and Scourier.
The Verge provides the additional instructions:
The experience is not as “smooth” as a modern Pokémon game or even the original Game Boy entries, but it is sort of reminiscent of typing on a typewriter, with user interface elements and half-font / half-monsters plopping down on the screen as if they were slammed there by a type bar. The Minnesota elements might feel out of place, but they’re pretty funny overall. You’ll battle your way through Ottowa, Lakeville, and a pair of “Twin Cities” and be treated to instances of Minnesota Nice and hotdish.
[...] Playing Fontemon is as simple as typing — whether it’s in the game’s webpage or in your own word processor or image editor with a downloadable version of the font. The easiest way to progress through the story is by not trying to type coherently, though. The game will putter along through the usual Pokémon milestones of receiving a starter monster and heading out to your first gym battles with a string of nonsense characters. Just make sure to type the correct letters once you’re in a battle. Of course, if you mess up or lose, you can also just hit backspace to undo your mistake.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday March 24 2021, @02:24AM (2 children)
It looks more like a slightly interactive movie rather than a "game". Neat proof of concept though.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 24 2021, @03:12AM
You just described 98 per cent of modern games: a slightly interactive movie.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Arik on Wednesday March 24 2021, @03:43AM
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 4, Touché) by maxwell demon on Wednesday March 24 2021, @07:30AM (2 children)
I tried to type on the linked game page everywhere where typing is possible, and nowhere did anything out of the ordinary appear (except that the big white text area expanded behind its frame and the other page elements).
If it is implemented purely in the font, shouldn't it work completely without JavaScript?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by rigrig on Wednesday March 24 2021, @01:16PM
With javascript disdabled typing in the textbox doesn't do anything, but typing directly into the "game window" worked for me. It's just that every character acts as a frame, and it takes a few key presses before anything recognizable shows up.
No one remembers the singer.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday March 25 2021, @11:54AM
It looks like it's like a cut-down version of the game "Typing Tutor", but without the scoring or the timing.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 24 2021, @08:32AM
This is why I scan fonts, too. I've found malware packed inside fonts [on Linux].
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 24 2021, @09:13AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenType [wikipedia.org]
Why am I not surprised?
Remember, children; when you do a Microsoft and your font files become Turing complete, you are Doing It Wrong (tm).